PAPAYA SMOOTHIE

Looking for something refreshing to start your day? Just try the following papaya smoothie recipe with minimum ingredients. Definitely this would be a delicious addition to your breakfast.

Smoothie, which is basically made by puréeing fruit/vegetables in a blender, often has a liquid base such as fruit/vegetable juice, and dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, ice cream and cottage cheese.

Since raw fruits/vegetables are used, smoothies include dietary Fiber (e.g. pulp, skin, and seeds) and so are thicker than fruit juices, often with a consistency similar to a milkshake. In addition, other ingredients such as non-dairy milk, crushed ice, sweeteners, vinegar, whey powder, chocolate or nutritional supplements are included in smoothies to aid with different values.

Variety of smoothies are commonly consumed in Indian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. Fruit sharbat (a popular West and South Asian drink) sometimes include yogurt and honey. In India, the lassi is a smoothie or a milkshake comprising of crushed ice, yogurt, sugar and mango. Health food stores on the West Coast of the United States began selling smoothies in the 1930s associated with invention of the electric blender. The actual term "smoothie" was being used in recipes and trademarks by the mid-1980s.

INGREDIENTS

• Papaya - 600 g (or a ½ of a medium to large size ripe papaya fruit)
• Yoghurt - 150 g (vanilla flavoured)
• Coconut water - 100 ml
• Lime - 2 tablespoons
• Ginger - 1 teaspoon (chopped)
• Salt - ¼ teaspoon

METHOD

• Step 1: Peel off the papaya, cut and remove the seeds.
• Step 2: Cut the papaya into small cubes.
• Step 3: Add papaya, yoghurt, coconut water, lime, ginger and salt into the blender and blend it for 20 - 30 seconds.
• Step 4: Pour the blended mixture into a glass and serve.

The above recipe is enough for two persons. If your requirement is different or you prefer a different consistency you can adjust the ingredient quantities accordingly. Besides, you can add ice cubes to have a cooler smoothie. Make sure to use a ripe papaya, so that you do not need to add sugar or honey to get the sweetness.

You can replace yoghurt with fresh milk or any plant based milk according to your preference. If so, you may need to adjust the quantities to have a thicker consistency. In this recipe, I have used the vanilla flavoured yoghurt so I did not add vanilla extract separately. If you use greek yoghurt or unflavoured plain yoghurt, you can add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to get the flavour.

This smoothie can be stored in the refrigerator up to 24 hours. However, it is better to consume just after preparing, to have the actual nutritional benefits and freshness. Papaya is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Antioxidants, Potassium and Fiber and helps for good eye health, cardiovascular health, kidney health, anti-aging, digestion, weight loss, etc. Having this smoothie as a breakfast will keep you refresh all day long.

I would love to hear your experience in preparing papaya smoothies. If you have any query, opinion or suggestion, do not hesitate to leave a comment below. Also you can follow my Facebook page Cuisines in Style to see the updates. In addition you can tag @cuisines_in_style in your Instagram posts, so that I can see your creative ideas.